Sites like Neighborland are encouraging people to collaborate on community issues. Photograph: NOIMAGE / Alamy/Alamy

As cities across the world buy into the smart city concept by utilising technology to run and design urban systems, there is a danger of by-passing the views of the voluntary sector.

With sensors and big data, city planners and policymakers can decide what the people want, rather than asking them. One reassuring concept that emerged from last week's Smart City World Expo in Barcelona, however, is that of the "smart citizenship" – a bottom-up rather than top-down approach to city development.

There has long been online community activism, just as there has long been online city government services. But getting the two to meet has often proven elusive. Dan Parham has attempted to do just that with his US-based online community action platform Neighborland. "Our mission is to empower the people to shape the development of their cities", explained Parham, through an approach he dubbed "authentic collaboration".

"Neighborland is a web-based platform that empowers collaboration on local issues. It is also a set of real world design tools that help organisations engage in a public space".

You could describe it as a facebook for volunteering. Other social media websites exist specifically for volunteers, such as GiveGab.com and iVolunteer.org. The UK youth charity vInspired uses a similar online platform to Neighborland help source youth volunteers for more than 2,500 charities. But while this might suggest that the future of volunteering is online, Parham was keen to stress it is another tool in the box – a method to help people meet up in community groups, rather than replacing it. Neighborland volunteers also go out into the community using whiteboards and stickers for people to write ideas on regarding the local issue at hand. Each idea is then photographed and uploaded onto the site.

"It's a simple landing page that sets up the project, the outcomes that are trying to be achieved and the timeframe. We then map all the data on google maps", said Parham. Questions or ideas can come from citizens or from city representatives, each with their own profile and the ability to message each other.

"We're primarily a surveying tool, but we also encourage people to take action on the issues that they care about. So on every idea page will be a very simple channel to suggest an event you can go to if you really care about bike lanes, or here's a resource, here's a petition ... seeing people share those events is really inspiring."

So far Neighborland has attracted 350,000 users, seen 100,000 local ideas, insights and actions suggested, and gone live in 1,700 US cities. But its success comes from being hyper local – voluntary groups are formed, or existing charities grow in strength, around local issues.

"Technology doesn't do anything, technology is a hammer on the table. It is the people who use the technology that get things done," said Parham, who announced at the conference that Neighborland will now roll out internationally and is looking for interested partners.

Startups are also emerging that are hoping to put the voluntary sector at the heart of the smart city debate. Citycise in Spain is currently in the development stage and hoping to launch an online platform next year. "Our project is engaging with community groups to ask the citizens what they want to improve in a neighbourhood, and then start the debate", said its chief executive Susana Fernández Molina.

Having already worked with community groups in Barcelona to test the concept, she believes they need improved visibility to have an impact at the city level. A website utilising the tools and reach of social media is the most effective way of doing that, she said. However, with the smart city industry currently based on selling technology to city authorities, less so on creating social value, Citycise has its work cut out.

There is currently a disconnect between smart cities and smart citizens, but examples are emerging of the two working together. Hanna Niemi-Hugaerts, project manager at Forum Virium Helsinki, said: "In Boston there is a system for citizens to adopt fire hydrants and keep them clear from snow and ice during the winter. This is a great example of how digital tools can let us connect more strongly with our physical surroundings." This is an example of city authorities directly reaching out to volunteers.

If this is the future for smart cities, then Neighborland and other online community platforms could form part of the smart city industry, rather than shouting from the sidelines.